No more forgetting your combination or key – smart locks are here to save the day.

SJ is a regular travel contributor to YourLifeChoices. Her plane essentials include noise-cancelling headphones, a solid Spotify playlist, sleeping tablets, an eyemask and a large scarf that doubles as a blanket on cold flights – i.e. every night.

We’ve all been there. You cleverly place the keys to your lock somewhere secure where no one will ever find them again – including you as it turns out. You create that combination using a number you could never forget until it comes time to unlock your lock and you can’t for the life of you remember whether that digit was a one or two. Ahh, the joys of lock-related security!

It was about this time last year I locked my brand new suitcase before boarding a flight to Germany only to reach our hotel and face the unpalatable reality that all my belongings were being held hostage in my bag as I couldn’t remember the clever combination I’d come up with mere hours before. Long story short, after sitting on the floor of our room and testing out every possible combination, I finally cracked the code – not the best start to say the least.

Here is where noke comes in. The world’s first smart lock, it solves all your lock-related worries by eliminating the need for combinations and keys. Using Bluetooth, nok? automatically finds and connects to your smartphone.

With its own Noke App, you can name your various locks and create custom settings specific to each as well as sharing and revoking access to your locked items with friends and family. The App allows you to specify the day, time, location and duration of access for a particular user with a history tab so you can see where, when and by whom your locks were accessed.

Weather resistant and made to withstand temperatures as low as minus 23°C and as high as 65°C, all buttons, sensors and batteries are stored internally and protected by silicon to ensure water does not damage the device.

Powered by a regular watch battery, there are also back-up ways to unlock the nok? should your phone die or the nok? battery run out and a key fob if you don’t use a smartphone. There’s even a bike lock design for cyclists.

The hassle-free way to keep your possessions safe, the noke comes into its own when you’re travelling with companions and ensures you are never caught short without keys or locked out of your belongings regardless of where your travel partner may be.